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Friends of Room 8 Medallion/Pendant (undated)
"One school day in 1952 a large but rather thin, shorthaired, grey-striped tabby cat turned up and wandered into a sixth-grade (Year 6) classroom, where he jumped up, walked on desks in a friendly manner and was welcomed by the children. "3 According to the book, A Cat Called Room 8, the tabby cat made himself at home on a desk while the class was out for recess. When they returned, they found that he had helped himself to their lunches while they were away. After lunch that day, the cat wandered away through the playground. But, he was back the next day ... and every shool day thereafter for the next 16 years.1 The name "Room 8" came from the room number of the class where the cat had made himself at home. He visited from desk to desk, and napped wherever he chose to. Children shared their lunch with him. When the school started a library, and needed bookplates, one of the students drew a picture of Room 8.
Eventually, stories about Room 8 reached the press and the school's cat became famous with articles printed in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, among others. TV channels filmed stories about Room 8 and he became known world-wide, requiring a student to act as his secretary to answer his fan mail. Room 8 died in 1968 at the Lockhart Pet Hospital in Hollywood, California, at the age of 21 years. He is buried in the Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park, Calabases, Los Angeles County, California. His grave is marked with a headstone with his photograph on it. 2 After the death of Room 8, the school's neighborhood started a fundraiser for a memorial. In 1976, a mural memorializing Room 8 was painted by Denis Fitzpatrick and Michael Chaffey on the exterior of Elysian Heights Elementary School. In addition, "enough money was raised to sponsor a bed at Orthopedic Hospital in downtown LA."4
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